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Ian Malloch was jogging up the Santa Cruz Trail in the early morning on Tuesday, January 15. Just ahead of him were two of his three dogs, Billy and Macaroni. Macaroni, or Mac for short, was the larger of the two, about 65 pounds, a German wire haired pointer and Billy, a much smaller mixed-breed, black and white, wire haired terrier, a longtime family pet rescued through a San Fernando Valley-based organization called Life4Paws. The third dog, named Trouble, was left at home, too small for the long out-and-back trip to the top of Little Pine Mountain.

It was a good day for a run — cold, crisp air with the promise of afternoon warming for the trip back down. From Upper Oso campground the trio followed a jeepway for three-fourths of a mile to the point where the Santa Cruz Trail veered off, following a narrow canyon along a creek bed in the direction of a small backcountry overnight spot known as Nineteen Oaks.

About halfway to the camp the trail climbed up over a small hump and the turned right around a bend. With the dogs leading the way, they disappeared around the bend with Ian following from a distance he estimated to be no more than 30 to 40 yards.

Suddenly there was a shout — a single word — “Yo!” and the sound of barking. Then a gunshot. Within seconds Ian ran onto the scene, his dog Billy lying on the ground, his blaze orange collar blown off his neck with the plastic clasp missing a few yards away. Ian looked down in shock, unable to believe what he was seeing.

“I’m sorry, bro, I had to put your dog down,” one of the hunters said.

“Why!?” Ian asked.

“I thought it was a wild dog,” he answered.

“We didn’t come out here to shoot your dog,” the other said.

Ian Molloch

Billy the Dog

“Does it really matter what you came out here for?” Ian responded. “You did shoot my dog.” Later Ian explained to me that the blaze orange collar Billy had on was clearly visible, and he couldn’t believe both Billy and Mac together, on a hiking trail, both wearing collars, could be mistaken for wild dogs.”

Crouching over his silenced dog with a pool of blood surrounding his furry head, Ian briefly wept realizing his beloved pet was dead. Still in shock, Ian boosted Billy up for what was perhaps the most painful two-mile walk of his life. “I carried him down the trail over my shoulder, blood soaking my shirt all the way down my legs to my running shoes,” Ian remembered. One of the hunters offered Ian an extra shirt from his truck when they reach the vehicles, and from there Ian insisted they head to the Santa Barbara Ranger District office to report the incident.

A week later, I am sitting at Café Luna in Summerland with Ian to talk about Billy and to understand more about what his loss has meant. We’re sitting outside with Macaroni lying beside us. “I wanted you to meet Mac,” Ian said, “so you know the kind of dog he is.”

“Billy was a good dog too, such a good dog; everyone who ever met him fell in love with him, a mutt of sorts, a cross between a terrier and some other sort of long, skinny-legged mutt that seemed to suit him perfectly. Benji adorable.”

As we talked, the thoughts came out of Ian in a rambling sort of way. Memories of a dog that did not deserve to die that way, efforts to understand why there wasn’t another way to handle the situation.

“We’re talking about two large men and one small dog,” Ian said. “One of the hunters was over 6 foot and 230 pounds; the other 6’ 5” and 210 pounds. You’re that big and you can’t figure out a way to handle things differently?”

Ian Molloch

Billy, a terrier mix weighing about 40 pounds that was loved by everyone who knew him.

In another moment Ian took stock of those who’ve blamed him for not having the dogs on leash. “Yes, it’s true,” he said, “Billy would be alive if he were on leash. But who has the greater responsibility here, the 40-pound dog that doesn’t even come to my knee or the 230-pound hunter decked out in camo gear with a deadly weapon in his hands? It’s a moral issue of sorts, that you can take a dog’s life so quickly … a very convenient way to escalate a situation to the point of no return.”

Then Ian added, “It may have been within their ability to kill Billy and legal under the law, but that doesn’t make it right. Every hunter I know would have made a different decision.”

“I thought there would be legal repercussions for shooting a dog in the middle of a recreation area,” Ian said to me. “We’re not more than a mile from Upper Oso, one of the largest overnight campgrounds back here, and yet hunters can legally hunt that close to one one of the most popular trails back here?”

Over the weekend, Ian and a close friend hiked up to Montecito Peak to bury Billy’s ashes. “It was a hike that Billy and I had done many times … that’s where he was the happiest,” he said. They found a secluded spot not too far from the top of the peak, dug a two-foot-deep hole, and buried Billy in a small wooden box with Macaroni looking down at his lifelong companion.

“Now every time I go back up the San Ysidro Trail with Mac, I’ll be able to be with Billy again,” Ian said. “For me now, I’ll always think of it as Billy’s Peak.

On Groundhog Day, Ian and his family will make the trek back up once again with family and friends to celebrate Billy’s life. They invite you to come along and share in the memories of those who have hiked the trails with their dogs.

Shoot first, think later seems to be the way we do things in this country. What brave men to shoot a small dog, and what a lame excuse. You should be able to run with your dog, off-leash on hiking trails. You should also be held accountable if your dog bites someone, but Billy didn't, he probably just sensed the men's aggressiveness and was barking to alert Ian to danger, like any good dog would. You should be held to account if you shoot and kill someone's pet. What gutless jerks.

My deepest sympathy on your loss.As much a defender of the Second Amendment as I am, there should be some means of preventing complete morons from owning guns. I fail to see how any responsible person could NOT see the dog's orange collar. Reminds me of an incident a few years back where a midwest farmer friend lost a cow to a couple of squirrel hunters. Anyone unable to distinguish a Holstein cow from a squirrel should not be allowed to carry a weapon.

I am so, so sorry for your terrible loss, Ian. It's a sobering tale, as well, for anyone who enjoys the local trails with their dogs and families. The local mountains are crawling with people who kill animals for fun (one of the behavioral indicators for incipient serial killers, by the way). In light of your horrendous experience, I will definitely be taking extra care while hiking with my dogs and kids during the various local animal killing seasons.

Thank you Ray Ford for taking the time to meet with Ian (and Mac) and write a second, more genuine article on their tragic incident. I can't imagine having to carry my dog out of the woods in that condition and my heart goes out to Ian and Laina for their loss. They are two of Santa Barbara's finest dog owners and their experience deserves the respect this story now gives them. RIP Billy.

Tragic and pointless, and more like dogslaughter than an accident, especially given the disgusting but very telling quote, "..sorry bro, had to put your dog down" and the orange collar. That's no accident; it's an admission of a deliberate act.

Cops are put through months of weapons training and simulations to hone their reflexes and learn restraint, yet they still can screw up under pressure. But for some stupid reason it's OK for a couple of lame-brained yahoos to traipse around near a campground with loaded rifles and their heads set in reflexive killer/predator mode. Well, they did get a kill to brag about during the Super Bowl - his name was Billy.

This is not 1787, despite what the NRA and the death lobby might want, and brainless dog-killing creeps do not a "well regulated militia" make, any more than a pack of gang-bangers doing Darwin's work on each other with assault pistols do.

This story is just too sad for words, but I must say something. These big burly men with their guns, is this all that is left for men to assert their manhood in our society? I don't wish to demonize the culprit, I wish to understand. Hating the fool doesn't help him to learn, change, grow. I suspect they went out to hunt and didn't get to kill anything so they just had to get a release somehow, all hopped up on "Hunt" adrenaline, and a dear sweet dog got in the way.

City Slickers, you cannot regulate Stupid or Inexperience. When I was a kid my Father and I hunted out along Highway 33, I learned how stupid and frustrated the City People were, they shot up the metal road signs, every sign had multiple holes, this was back in the early 1960's when the population was much smaller. We did not go out on the weekends in order to avoid these stupid idiots that made so much noise, the deer were in the next county, and then vented their frustration on the road signs.

Why can't the authorities who issued a gun license to these idiots revoke it? If I do something stupid behind the wheel of a car, then I lose my driver's license. If one admittedly accidentally shoots someone or otherwise abuses the privilege to carry a gun, then his license should be revoked.

Good job on the follow up Indy. Absolutely ridiculous, and tragic. A shot on the ground and that dog would have ran away so fast. And what is up with the "bro"? I am not your bro. A wild dog? Wow. Betcha the dumba$$ stepped back, tripped and lost his temper and took it out on billy. Nope I wasn't there, but this is an opinion board and that is my speculation. If you are going to have your dog off a leash, what better place to do it? The owner would have to accept the fact a wild animal could get Billy at any time, but two big brave macho pig killing hunters gun him down? Wow that's pretty rich...BRO!

Ian, I just do not know how you kept your head throughout this horrific ordeal. My dear mother used to say, "You don't do something like this and get away with it." I almost pity those cowardly jerks . . . almost. You reap what you sow, you reap what you sow.

It is a terrible what happened to the dog - but also the owner is to blame there is a leash law in the state of California - no matter how sweet the dogs are you must obey the law & have your dogs leashed to many people having their dogs off leash @ beaches - trails - parks etc.. Are ruining it for responsible pet owners , you can exercise your dog on leash I do it every day & have a very happy fit dog , I could let my dog off leash he actually is professionally trained & obedient , but I don't because it is breaking the law even the owner said he herd his dog barking , the hunters may have been a bit over doing it but also the owner of Billy is more to blame he put Billy in harms way & like I said I'm sorry for his loss but he needs to face the fact that he put Billy in harms way !

well, it is true that you cannot regulate Stupid, hgwmv, but you can regulate Inexperience (by requiring more training) or mental stability or health issues allow the state to deny the person [s] right to own a firearm. More training should be required for hunters. It's also very likely there were no feral pigs in that area, on the frontside of Little Pine (very dry), so what the heck were these Brea guys DOING up there? Did they have the pig tags as some else asked? Names?

The two hunters are from Brea, CA and they both had valid hunting licenses. The report doesn't indicate whether or not they had pig tags with them but are required to. To obtain a hunting license in California one must take a Hunter Safety Course and present a certificate of completion when applying for the license. Current cost of a resident hunting license is $44.85 and a resident wild pig tag costs an additional $21.34. We are in the process of researching many of the issues that have been raised above and will be reporting on them soon.

This is a story of the loss of a loved one due to senseless violence, and hindsight regarding the facts can't reduce Ian's pain. Previous articles described Billy's shooting as an act of self-defense by someone with a gun who felt threatened. Ian's statement here is that Billy was killed because he was mistaken for a wild dog who happened to be wearing a very visible collar, not because he was perceived to be a threat. I think this statement offers an important insight to the thinking of this guy on a public hiking trail with a gun (who had been hunting feral pigs but apparently wasn't hiking out with any he'd shot). It sounds as though he believed that killing a wild dog would have been justified, an action with no repercussions, and this attitude toward destruction of life makes this horrible incident even more chilling.

oldtimer: Reports made to government agencies are public record when an investigation is completed, but a perceived threat to the hunters if their identity is released would be a good reason for an exception to the Public Records Act.

Are you crazy, Dogs?!? Dogs are permitted off- leash in most of the Los Padres, including nearby places, like Tunnel Trail. Why don't you get your facts straight before you go spouting off and blaming the owner. If you don't like it, then stay off the trails.

Wow, so Billy was shot halfway to Nineteen Oaks? That is very, very close to where joggers & families with kids recreate.

I used to ride the Nineteen Oaks loop and also come down from Little Pine. Common sense dicated that I really slow my speed (and have my cow bell of course) once I got to the Nineteen Oaks intersection on Santa Cruz cuz I knew I'd see people along the way.

Upon thinking about it, it seems that we are being failed by our law enforcement personnel. Who is supposed to protect Santa Barbara citizens and their pets from nutcases with guns and bad attitudes? Why was the shooter just sent on his way after he admitted killing the dog? Aren't we supposed to be able to enjoy ourselves on our trails, in our county, while being protected? Is the Forest Service responsible or some other police?

Heartbreaking, senseless and maddening. These supposed"men" ..yea the ones who were so afraid of a sweet 40lb dog ...the ones with the guns to make up for their "inadequatecies" should be held accountable and made to make restitution . How about a huge fine to be given to a local shelter along with mandatory volunteer hours at some of the local shelters ?? Maybe if they spend time with these sweet 4 legged souls..they will see they HAVE a soul..and a spirit..and emotions..and lets not forget the unconditional love they lavish on us.I am so so sorry for the tragic loss of your sweet Billy. May time help heal your heart .

EB has a great point: only half-way to 19 Oaks?! They weren't even up on Little Pine Mtn. proper. I've been hiking this area for over 30 years and especially this section is full of happy hikers, horsemen and horse-women, children, and yes mtn. bikers...it's even more audacious TO BE SHOOTING in this zone rather than "up on the mountain"... as for you comment, praireylark, "we are being failed by our law enforcement personnel." in those years I have NEVER once seen law enforcement up there, and with their funding issues it ain't likely. I have complained about out-of-town mountain bikers hauling like crazy down the trail endangering horses and little kids, to no avail. If I were a gun guy I'd take my friggin piece up there to protect my dogs...oh, so then it could be the 1880s and we could blast away at each other. No, the issue is gun control.

It's a little sickening reading some of these posts that absolve the dog owner of any responsibility and the state that the hunters gunned down an innocent pet for no reason. I'm not saying that the hunters used good judgment, but it just reinforces my belief that many dog owners in this city believe their pets can do no wrong and people should just accept vicious behavior by some peoples' pets as a fact of life.

Would one of the local news groups please get the full story. And in the meantime, report on the efforts being made to that end. Edhat, now Indie (with this sloppy and speculative folo to a decent news break previously)... reporting that is completely one-sided, speculative and EMBARRASSING. Give us the facts, people. It certainly sounds like these guys were knuckleheads, but let's get their comments and in the meantime let's attribute Ian's accounting of the story as just that...his side. RIP Billy, you look too cute and too small to get shot in the back country, no doubt. But RIP balanced reporting in our community, too.

How on earth could a 40lb dog not be stopped whatever he was doing, by a hefty kick from people 6 feet and over. The dog would have yelped and gone back to its owner. That is what is embarrassing - the thought that ANYTHING a 40lb dog could do was worthy of being shot. I am sure the hunters could chime in at anytime and explain what the little dog did that was so threatening. It would be highly educational to us all.

6.08.020 Animals Running at Large and Grazing Prohibited-Exception-Nuisance

A. ANIMALS AT LARGE. It is unlawful for any person owning or having possession, charge, custody or control of any animal, to cause or permit or allow the same to stray or run, or in any other manner to be at large in or upon any unenclosed lot or place. Whenever an animal is found running at large, the same shall constitute prima facie evidence that the owner permitted it to run at large. It shall likewise be unlawful for any person owning or having possession, charge, custody or control of any animal to cause or permit or allow the same to be staked out, or to herd or graze any animal upon any unenclosed private lot or land in such a manner that the rope or other attachment by which such animal is tethered may permit such animal to be or to go beyond the boundaries of the unenclosed private lot or land. Any animal, suffered or permitted to be at large, or otherwise to be within the City in violation of the provisions of this Title, is declared to be a public nuisance.

B. DOGS IN PUBLIC. No dog is permitted upon a street or other public place unless on a leash not in excess of six (6) feet in length and under the immediate care and control of the owner or other person having the care and custody thereof, except during supervised dog training classes, shows or exhibitions held in City Parks when authorized by a Park Use Permit issued by the Parks and Recreation Department.

C. OFF LEASH DOG AREAS IN CITY PARKS AND BEACH. Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, properly licensed and tagged dogs without vicious, dangerous or aggressive propensities and are healthy and not in heat may be exercised off-leash within the areas designated in paragraph C(2) if under the care, custody or control of a person responsible for the off-leash dog.

1. Responsible Person. A person having possession, charge, custody or control of the off-leash dog must remain present with the off-leash dog at all times, must carry a leash, must leash the dog at the first sign of aggression, must clean up dog feces created by the dog, and bears full responsibility for filling any holes and repairing any damage created by the dog. The person responsible for the off-leash dog must comply with rules and regulations regarding the park, and must remove the dog when the off-leash dog park is closed.

Santa Cruz Trail: One of the most popular trails. It goes 1.5 miles to Nineteen Oaks Camp, then 4 more to the top of Little Pine Mountain. If you continue on this trail, you can enter the San Rafael Wilderness. The trailhead is at Upper Oso

Canyon RegulationsAccess to the Canyon, as well as general access to the river, and most picnic areas are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.Pets are welcome as long as you keep them under control. Generally this means keeping them on a leash.

Santa Cruz Trail: One of the most popular trails. It goes 1.5 miles to Nineteen Oaks Camp, then 4 more to the top of Little Pine Mountain. If you continue on this trail, you can enter the San Rafael Wilderness. The trailhead is at Upper Oso Campground.

Canyon RegulationsAccess to the Canyon, as well as general access to the river, and most picnic areas are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.Pets are welcome as long as you keep them under control. Generally this means keeping them on a leash.

So here are the facts ! Yes your dog is to be leashed & the owner does need to take responsibility for allowing his dogs to run off leash ahead of him & out of sight that is not a responsible pet owner ! It is a tragic sham of what happened to the dog but initially it is the DOG OWNERS RESPONSIBILITY TO BE IN CONTROL OF THIER PETS @ ALL TIMES

Thanks, Dogs: I add this topographical data from B. Conant's 2009 SAN RAFAEL WILDERNESS MAP GUIDE. Once hikers (or bikers or kids or hunters or DOGS) have gone the 1.5 m. to 19 Oaks Camp, it's then another steeply ascending 4.0 miles to the "top" at Alexander Saddle (3960 ft.) near Little Pine's peak: but from there it's another whopping 7 hard-hikin' miles to where the boundary of the San Rafael Wilderness. I wonder if the federal wilderness area within Los Padres National Forest has any more restrictive gun regulations. I do know you can hunt in the federal wilderness: HOWEVER, this is far beyond the hiking capacity of our two yahoos from Brea [it would mean about a 22 mile roundtrip]. Where were these two guys hunting? Feral pigs are much more likely to OVER Alexander Saddle, over in the area near Little Pine Spring where there is much more water for plants for the pigs to forage. So what were the two hunters doing out there? Pig tags?

And the punishment for an infraction of the leash law is death? And if a child is caught shoplifting, the shopowner can beat him? No, it is not the privilege of just anyone to take the law into their own hands and administer punishment, obviously.

Show me where it says other individuals on public lands near recreation areas are allowed to enforce leash laws with deadly force.

And what is the greater crime, being off leash or shooting to kill just because you can? So disgusting.

Hunting is similar to fishing - 1% of the hunters get 90% of the game. Most likely these guys have no idea what they are doing and are just out there to shoot guns. Seems to be the case for most people out in our backcountry, unfortunately. Obviously these gys were idiots who are out to cause trouble. I feel bad for the dog's owner, this shouldn't have happened.

Pets under control does not mean leashed, it means that the owner must be able to get his or her dog to obey a command, and remain within close enough range to issue needed commands at a moment's notice. Generally that would mean you must keep your dog within sight at all times, and have well-trained dogs. Still, while Ian can be faulted for allowing his dogs to run too far ahead of him, he did so in an area where they were highly unlikely to scare a child or cause any harm. Those two "hunters" were nothing but cowards, and there is no excuse for their behavior.

So tragic and so sad. I have encountered many loose dogs in my life. Even my own dogs have temporarily escaped my control at times. There are many ways to assert your dominance over a dog (and wolves or coyotes) other than shooting it. And sometimes you might even get a little hurt. just deal with it. Shooting is the last option. But the easiest if you already have a gun at the ready.

I have a real problem understanding how these outdoor hunters could mistake a curly haired terrier with an orange collar with a truly wild dog.